Negotiations to settle thermal coal contract prices with
Australian suppliers for April 2012-March 2013 term are likely to begin in
March, a Japan-based source said Wednesday.
“We don't expect any negotiations to take place in February,” the
source said. Japan secures its coal requirements mainly through term contracts,
most of which span over April-March fiscal year period.
The so-called “champion negotiator” for this year's negotiations
could either be Tohoku Electric or Tokyo Electric Power Company, the source
said.
Tohoku's coal requirements for fiscal 2012-2013, however, will be less than
usual because its 2,000 MW Haramachi coal-fired power plant remains under
maintenance after being damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the
source said.
For the April 2011-March 2012 term the contract price was
settled at $129.85/mt with Australian producers. Japan imported about 70
million mt of steam coal, mostly on term contract basis, in 2011, a source said
previously.
Source: Platts
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